Reunion Homecoming
by Bullock512
Summary: Hanna is returning home for her high school reunion and the memories she ran from 10 years ago.
1. Chapter 1

**A Pretty Little Liars High School Reunion Story**

**Summary: Hanna is finally returning home for her high school reunion and the memories she ran from 10 years ago. Fluffy with a tiny bit of angst.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars or its characters.**

**Ten years was a long time to avoid one town, but for Hanna Marin the memories that town held had been so horrible and traumatic that leaving was the only way for her to move on and have a real life. Leaving the ones she loved behind was the hardest thing she had ever done but in the end, for Hanna, became the smartest move she ever made.**

**Now though ten years later it was time to go back. To face the past and all the people from her past and explain to them that leaving wasn't about them, but about that town.**

**Going back wouldn't be as scary as she used to think it would be though because she wouldn't be going back alone. She would be going back with her loving, caring, and supportive husband. Seven years of marriage later and she still woke up everyday amazed that one desperate decision to leave on her part gave her a future she had only ever dreamed about with a man who loved her as much as he did.**

**The days after Alison came home to Rosewood, wondering what to do with her life had Hanna realizing that she could never figure out who she was as long as she stayed in this town. She had to take time for herself, time to figure out exactly who she was now and to begin to live her life as that person.**

**Hanna contemplated all the events of the past ten years as her husband drove them back to Rosewood. She went through every memory, every action, every word and every decision she had made, everything beginning with one simple desperate phone call. **

**Suddenly for Hanna driving in that car it was as if she was back to that night with the phone pressed to her ear desperately hoping that the person on the other end would pick up as the tears streamed down her face.**

**That night…**

**Hanna held the phone to her ear begging the person on the other end to pick up, to help her figure out what to do, to save her.**

"**Hello? Hanna?" The voice on the other end asked as the line finally picked up.**

"**I don't know what to do." Hanna sobbed out the emotions getting the best of her and her words barely coherent.**

"**Hanna what's wrong? Where are you?" The voice asked worry and desperation entering his voice as he began to realize just how upset she was.**

"**I don't know. I got in my car and just started driving and when I ran out of gas I stopped and now I don't know where I am and everything is all screwed up." Hanna explained as another sob ripped from her throat.**

"**Look around you Hanna and tell me what you see." The voice told her gently, trying to calm her.**

"**Okay." Hanna answered as she began to look around at the trees noticing a small sign a few feet ahead. "There's a sign ahead, it says Twinley Mountain Lodge five miles ahead." Hanna said as she reached the sign and read it out.**

"**I know where that is I can be there in an hour. Don't move Hanna and stay in the car and lock all the doors. Wait right there for me I'm on my way okay?" The voice said hurriedly, the rustling in the background giving away the fact that he was grabbing his coat and keys and getting into his own car.**

"**I'll stay here. I promise." Hanna said as exhaustion began to take over the emotional high she had been existing on since she left home.**

"**Hold on Han I'll be there soon." The voice repeated before the line went dead. Hanna got back into her car closed and locked all the windows and doors and sat staring straight ahead until her eyes could no longer hold themselves open and she drifted off to sleep.**

**Fifty minutes later…**

**The horn honking in front of her jolted Hanna awake but the person who got out of the car in front of her made her throat tighten and her heart skip a beat.**

**Before she knew it she was out of the car and running into the arms of the man who had driven all this way to rescue her.**

"**Oh thank God you're okay. You had me so worried calling me like that. What are you doing all the way out here Hanna?" He asked as he held her face between his hands and stared into her eyes.**

"**Alison's alive." Hanna told him. The shock in his face told her enough what he was thinking at that moment.**

"**Alive? How do you know?" He asked letting her go and stepping back to watch her expression.**

"**We rescued her. Aria, Spencer, Emily and I saved her life and brought her home." Hanna explained.**

"**Where has she been all this time?" He asked.**

"**All over the place apparently. She's been on the run, trying to hide from whoever's been after her all this time." **

"**Who was it?" **

"**Cece Drake." Hanna told him.**

"**Why? What did she have against Alison?" He asked confusion etched in his tone and his face.**

"**I'm not entirely sure everything seemed to have happened so fast and all the facts now seem to be muddled in my head. It was so hard to process everything." Hanna said rubbing her temples gently trying to stave off the headache she could feel forming.**

"**Okay I get that but why did you leave?" He asked moving his hands to hers and taking over the job of rubbing her temples.**

"**I don't know who I am anymore. I haven't known who I am in a long time it seems and being in that town now that Ali is back isn't helping. Everyone is always asking questions and wondering how we all feel about having her back and I haven't had a chance to even process anything let alone answer the questions I've had myself." Hanna said frustration coloring her voice.**

"**So you just got into your car and began driving?" he asked with a raised brow and a slight grin. **

"**Well no I did pack a couple suitcases before I left." Hanna said knowing that his raised brow and grin meant he knew she wouldn't leave without her clothes.**

"**Didn't think you would leave without the clothes and shoes." He said with a slight laugh. "Why'd you call me?" He asked his voice serious again.**

"**Didn't want to call anyone else." Hanna said locking her eyes with his.**

"**I'm glad you called me. I've been thinking about you a lot lately." He said returning her gaze. He kept staring at her noticing the circles under her eyes and the way her entire body seemed to be hunched in on itself. "Come on lets get to this Lodge up the road you look like you're about to drop." He said as he put his arm around her and led her to the passenger side of his car. Once she was seated inside he returned to her car and removed all her stuff before locking it up and storing everything in the trunk of his car.**

**Hanna was too tired to speak when he got in the car and turned around to being the five mile drive to the Lodge all she could do was stare at him, so thankful that he would come and get her at the drop of a hat.**

"**Thanks for coming for me." She whispered the words making his head turn slightly to look at her.**

"**Anytime Princess." She heard him say softly before her eyes closed and she succumbed to sleep again.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Reunion Homecoming Chapter 2**

**Caleb Rivers saved her that night. He picked her up and took her somewhere safe, somewhere she could regroup and figure out where she wanted to go from there. She may have been a princess to him but that night, for her, he was a knight in shining armour as clichéd as it may sound.**

**As she sat in the passenger seat watching her hunband drive she was transported back to the Lodge the morning after.**

**The Morning After…**

**The sun shining through the curtains was what woke her up the next morning. The chest she was laying on was what she noticed first. The strong arms wrapped around her and the gentle hands rubbing her back what she noticed second.**

"**I've missed you doing that." She told him softly letting him know she was awake.**

"**I've missed being able to hold you like this." He responded his arms squeezing her tighter briefly before letting go.**

"**I don't even know what I can say or how I can thank you for coming to get me last night." Hanna said as she leaned up on her elbow to look down into his face.**

"**You don't have to say or do anything. I love that you still know deep down that you can call me for anything. I'll always be here for you Hanna that's never going to change no matter where I am or where you are." He said using his hands to push the hair back from her face.**

"**I do know that. I could have called so many other people I know they would have helped. But no one understands me the way that you do, no one knows what I need like you do Caleb." **

"**Well I think what you need now is to jump in the shower and refresh yourself while I sort out something for breakfast and then we can talk on what's going to happen next." He said as he got up from the bed pulling her up as well and steering her towards the bathroom.**

**She didn't say anything just walked into the bathroom and began removing her clothes before turning on the shower and climbing in. She didn't even bother with closing the door. He'd seen everything anyway so there wasn't any real point to closing it. She stayed in the shower for thirty minutes and when she came out and wrapped a towel around her she was feeling remarkably better.**

**Caleb was just entering the room when she emerged from the bathroom in her towel a tray of coffees and what appeared to be bagels in his hands.**

"**Well that answers that question then." He said with a smile as he allowed his eyes to run up and down her body.**

"**What question?" Hanna asked.**

"**The question of whether or not you're more beautiful now then you were the last time I saw you." He replied.**

"**And?" She asked wanting to know his answer.**

"**Still beautiful, different but still so beautiful." He told her honestly.**

**She blushed and turned away noticing that her bags were now sitting on the bed. "Thanks for bringing my stuff in." She told him as she unzipped the first bag and began hunting through it for some underwear and sweats.**

"**No problem, though if you'd rather sit around in that towel you wouldn't hear me complaining." He responded with a laugh.**

"**Nice to see you haven't changed much." Hanna quipped as she sat down on the side of the bed and drew her panties up under the towel. The sweatpants were pulled on next, and then, finally, she removed the towel right there in front of him, though her back was turned, and pulled the long sleeve baggy t-shirt over her head. When she was sufficiently clothed she turned to face him and found his eyes glued to her.**

"**Still with me Caleb?" Hanna asked with a smirk as she sat back down on the bed.**

"**Huh? Oh yea sorry just got distracted for a minute." He responded pulling his eyes away from her body and to her face. "By the way I got a tow truck for your car and had it towed here. I also put gas in it for you so it's all ready to go." Caleb explained as he handed her a coffee and a bagel.**

"**Thanks. You didn't have to do that though I would have handled it."**

"**It's okay I had some spare time while you were in the shower using up all the hot water." He responded with a smirk.**

"**For your information I did not use all the hot water. I was only in there for thirty minutes which is a lot different from my usual forty-five minutes to an hour shower thank you very much." Hanna snarked back.**

"**Okay princess. I'm gonna jump in the shower and get cleaned up. When I come out though I want to know what you're planning on." He said with a serious look before heading into the bathroom for his shower. Like her he too didn't shut the door just began to strip down and jump in the shower. **

**Unlike Hanna he was out in less then thirty minutes and with his clothes back on. He stepped into the room rubbing his hair with a towel. The whole time he had been gone Hanna had sat thinking about where she was going to go from here. **

**She wasn't going back to Rosewood, not anytime soon, she wasn't ready for that, but she also knew that she couldn't stay holed up in a motel indefinitely either.**

"**I don't want to go back to Rosewood." She said loudly breaking the silence that had previously been in the room. Caleb looked at her sharply the towel dropping to his side.**

"**Where do you want to go?" He asked calmly though he looked a little apprehensive.**

"**California." She responded in a strong tone.**

"**Why there?" He asked.**

"**Cause it's far away from here. It's where I was planning on going to college anyway, I'm just going there a bit earlier then I thought I would." She explained.**

"**Okay. Well are you gonna fly there or drive?" He asked.**

"**I'm gonna fly there. I'll leave the car at the airport and send my mom a text letting her know where it is." **

"**Okay then. When do we leave?" Caleb asked his words shocking Hanna.**

"**We?" She asked.**

"**Hanna I'm not letting you go all the way to California on your own. I'll go with you I have to talk to my mom anyway maybe I can get her to let you stay in the guest house until you find somewhere else." He said as he began picking up their stuff and moving to the door.**

"**Caleb I can't ask you to do that. I mean you have stuff still to do in Ravenswood don't you?" Hanna asked.**

"**No. I was planning on leaving Ravenswood and going back to school in Rosewood. Since you're not going to be there though there's really no reason to go back right now." He said as she closed and locked the door while he loaded the bags into his car.**

"**Oh. Why were you coming back to Rosewood. I mean it's not like we were still together I thought you would have just taken off and gone to your moms to start over." Hanna said an edge to her tone.**

"**I'll explain everything to you later I promise. There's so much that you don't know." He said cryptically. **

"**No. I wanna know now." Hanna said petulantly. **

**Caleb ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I broke up with you to keep you safe." He told her.**

"**What do you mean by that?" She asked her face and voice showing her confusion.**

"**Miranda died. In that car accident. Because of things to do with me and I didn't want to see you end up the same way. I couldn't risk it Hanna. You're too important to me. Letting you go was the hardest thing I ever had to do but I knew I had to in order to keep you safe." He explained moving closer to her.**

"**You broke me." She whispered in response to his words.**

"**It was better for you to hate me and be safe then to love me and be in danger. It was a risk I had to take Hanna." He said as he stopped in front of her.**

"**I didn't sleep for days. I could barely eat, leaving the house wasn't an option. I did a few stupid things, hurt a friend all because I was trying to forget how broken you truly left me. Then everything with Alison happened and I didn't have a lot of time to process anything else but once we got back home it was as if everything hit me again all at once. You were gone, Alison was alive and home and everyone around me was asking too many questions I wasn't ready to answer." Hanna said as the tears streamed down her face.**

"**I'm sorry Hanna. I never meant for things to happen like this I just didn't know what else to do to keep you safe." Caleb tried to explain.**

"**I think you were right and we should talk about this later." Hanna said trying to change the subject.**

"**We can do that." He agreed. **

"**Okay well I'm gonna start driving to the airport now I guess I'll see you there?" Hanna asked still not sure if he would come with her or not.**

"**Yea I'll be there soon just wait for me by the entrance doors I just need to head back to Ravenswood and get my stuff." He explained letting her know he was still coming with her.**

"**Okay." She said quietly as she moved to her car and opened the door to get in.**

"**Hanna?" Caleb called just as she was gonna slide into the car.**

"**Yea?" She called turning to look at him. He was smiling.**

"**I'm glad you called me." He said before getting into his own car, starting the engine and driving away.**

"**Me too." Hanna whispered before getting into her own car and driving away as well.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: The reason for Hanna being invited to the high school reunion will be explained in the next chapter so if there's a few of you out there wondering about that don't worry there will be an answer just please be patient.**

**Reunion Homecoming Chapter 3**

**The hand on my arm woke me from my memories, his voice alerting me to the fact that we were entering Rosewood.**

"**We're here Hanna." He said in a low voice squeezing her hand gently.**

"**I'm not sure I can do this." She said her whole body tensing up.**

"**Yes you can baby, you're too strong not to. You left here and made a new life for yourself you can certainly face the life you left behind." He said gently.**

"**I don't feel very strong right now." She whispered.**

"**But you are. Remember how brave you were when you got to California? How you immediately began to plan what to do with your life. I don't think I had ever seen someone with that much strength." He told her as he turned the car onto her old street.**

**Her mom still lived there. They'd spoken a few times over the years brief terse conversation that left Hanna sad and her husband angry at how long Ashley Marin had held a grudge against her only child. They hadn't seen each other in ten years either not since the day her mom came to California and tried to drag her back home. Caleb had come to her rescue that day as well.**

**Three Days After Arriving In California…**

**The knock at the door startled Hanna and Caleb who had been in the overly large and bright kitchen making lunch for everyone. Hanna hadn't spoken very much about home and the people she left behind but her eyes didn't seem as haunted as they were the night they went to the Lodge. **

**Hanna followed Caleb when he went to answer the door and upon it opening saw her stiffen as she met the very angry face of her mother.**

"**Mom! What are you doing here?" She asked as her mom stepped into the front hall.**

"**I've come to take you home. Go pack your things and lets get going. You're missing school and everyone's been asking about you." She said impatiently.**

"**Mom I'm not going back." Hanna said softly ending her moms rant before it even got going.**

"**Of course you are. You have to finish school and you belong at home." She said with a fierce frown.**

"**No mom I don't belong there anymore. There are too many bad memories there for me now. The past few years have taken a huge toll on me and I just can't be in that town anymore. I need to stay here. I'm gonna go Monday and enrol in a school here and when I'm done that I'm gonna apply to college. I want to be here." Hanna explained moving away from her mother and closer to Caleb. Ashley Marin noticed of course.**

"**You had something to do with this didn't you?" She accused turning icy eyes on Caleb.**

"**I got a phone call in the middle of the night from a very emotional broken Hanna asking me for help. I drove to where she was to find her car broken down and her a mess of tears passed out from exhaustion in the front seat. I helped get her somewhere to sleep and regroup and when she told me she wanted to leave town for California I suggested she stay at my moms in the guest house. So no I didn't have anything to do with her leaving Rosewood but I am responsible for getting her here and until she is ready to leave and go back I'm not letting you or anyone else try and force her." Caleb said his eyes flashing. Hanna could only stare at him as he came to her defence once again.**

"**This is ridiculous she's only eighteen she needs to be at home with her parents." Ashley demanded.**

"**I can't go back there mom. I'm just not ready." Hanna whispered wrapping her arms around herself as if afraid talking about Rosewood would bring everything back to her.**

"**You don't have to go anywhere Hanna. You are eighteen and can do what you want now." Caleb told her as he put his arm around her and drew her into his side to comfort her.**

"**Fine! You stay here but don't call me when things don't work out and you need somewhere to go because I might not be there to help." Ashley said angrily as she stormed out of the house slamming the door.**

"**Well that was a riot." Caleb joked turning himself and Hanna back towards the kitchen and the lunch they were making.**

"**Everything okay Caleb" Caleb's mom asked as they entered.**

"**Yea mom everything's fine." Caleb told her before they both got back to work on lunch.**

"**Thanks for letting me stay here." Hanna said smiling at his mother.**

"**No problem dear." She said with a smile of her own before heading back out to the family room where everyone was waiting for lunch.**

"**Ready baby?" Her husband asked drawing her back to the present again.**

"**I guess so." She whispered as she got out of the car.**

"**Don't worry I'll be right here with you the whole time I promise." Her husband told her as he grabbed her hand in support before making their way to the front door.**

**Three knocks later and the door began to open and there stood Ashley Marin. She looked at them for a long second before she finally spoke.**

"**Come in."**


	4. Chapter 4

**Reunion Homecoming Chapter 4**

"**Hi mom." Hanna said as they walked into the house.**

"**What are you doing here Hanna?" Her mom asked.**

"**The school sent me an invite to the high school reunion." Hanna explained.**

"**Why? You didn't even graduate there." Ashley said.**

"**The letter said that because of everything I did involving the school, the charity events and fundraisers as well as how close I was to actually graduating with them and being crowned homecoming queen they would really like me to attend." Hanna responded.**

"**Oh well that was nice of them. Since you're here you may as well stay in your old room. It doesn't look much different from when you left just a little emptier." Ashley said. She turned to leave but then stopped and looked back at Hanna. "It's good to see you home finally Hanna. I have missed you around here." She added warmth finally making it's way into her voice.**

**They made their way upstairs to Hanna's old room and just as her mom had said it didn't look much different. Personal stuff was missing but other then that the room looked as if she had never left it.**

"**We should get ready for the reunion it's in a couple hours and the sooner we get there the sooner we can leave." Hanna said opening the garment bag she'd brought in with her with the dress she planned to wear inside.**

"**I think you're going to have a good time tonight no matter what you think right now. Forget the past Hanna it's done and over with I'm sure everyone here has moved on with their lives as well." He husband told her wrapping his arms around her from behind and kissing her neck gently. She squirmed and laughed lightly.**

"**That still tickles." She said looking at him over her shoulder.**

"**Hmm. Really?" He replied kissing his way up her neck until he could capture her lips in a hot searing kiss. It was brief but the emotion behind that kiss managed to knock the breath from Hanna.**

"**I love you." She told him as he moved away to grab his suit and get ready for the reunion himself.**

"**I love you too. I'll be by your side all night don't worry." He told her giving her a gentle kiss to her forehead before entering the bathroom to shower and change.**

**When he came out of the shower Hanna went in for her own shower and half an hour later they were both ready to leave.**

"**We're leaving now mom." Hanna said standing in the door to the living room where her mom was currently watching a movie.**

"**Okay. Have fun you two." Ashley said with a small smile.**

**The drive to the high school took only a few minutes but in those few minutes Hanna's nerves skyrocketed to an insane level.**

"**Relax everything's going to be great." She told herself quietly as she got out of the car and took her husbands arm. He smiled and nodded at her clearly having heard her mumbled words.**

"**Yes everything is going to be just fine." He said with a soft smile.**

**The high school gym was decorated like a fairy land. There were fake trees and soft lights, stars hanging from the ceiling and table all around with name tags on them. Hanna walked to the table set just inside the door and handed over her invite to the brunette woman sitting behind it.**

"**Hanna?" The woman asked. "Hanna Marin?"**

"**Yes?" Hanna said not quite sure who the woman was.**

"**It's me Danielle. We went on a double date once remember?" She asked with a broad smile.**

"**Danielle? Oh wow I would never have recognized you, you look so different." Hanna said her own smile gracing her face.**

"**It's good to see you again Hanna. No one was sure if you would come or not but here you are." She said giving Hanna a warm hug in welcome.**

"**It's good to see you again too Danielle." Hanna responded before turning to the room and surveying it for anyone she might know while her husband and Danielle chatted for a few minutes.**

"**Hanna!" A loud voice yelled out to her right causing heads to turn in her direction and suddenly there were four very curious women bearing down on her.**

**Aria the one who had spoken reached her first. "Hello Aria." Hanna said when she reached her.**

"**Oh my God I can't believe you came!" She said still in that loud voice of hers.**

"**The letter that was sent requesting my presence was so heartfelt that I couldn't not come." Hanna responded.**

"**Well we're glad you did come." Spencer said as she came up alongside Aria.**

"**Hey Spencer you look really good." She said giving Spencer a hug and then receiving one from Aria as well.**

"**Thanks. Toby's around here somewhere I'm just not sure where exactly." She said with a laugh gesturing to the room at large.**

**Emily and Paige came up next each giving her a hug and welcoming her back home. They made her feel as if she had never left although she knew that they probably had a lot they wanted to ask her about her leaving and how her life had been over the past ten years.**

"**Ezra is around here somewhere too though I'm not entirely sure where. He might actually have gone off with Toby somewhere." Aria said as she too looked around for someone.**

"**Did you come here alone?" Emily asked not noticing the man standing with his back to her still talking to Danielle.**

"**Um no. I'm here with my husband actually." Hanna said.**

"**Oh where is he?" Aria asked looking around.**

"**That would be my cue to step in and say hi I think." her husband spoke from behind her after turning around and looping his arms around her waist.**

"**Caleb!" Four voices exclaimed in surprise staring wide eyed at him behind me.**

"**Hello ladies nice to see you all again." Caleb said with a big smile and a laugh at how surprised they had been.**

"**I didn't know you two were back together let alone married." Spencer said the first to regain her voice.**

"**Yep been together ten years now though we've only been married for seven." He said proudly.**

"**Ten years? But that's when Hanna left…" Aria trailed off not wanting to bring up Hanna's leaving.**

"**I called him the night I left after my car broke down. He came and got me and we've been together ever since though it did take time for us to move past all that had happened between us." Hanna explained quickly.**

"**Wow." Paige said speaking for the first time. "Congrats you guys." **

"**Thanks." Caleb said with a smile before looking down at her in inquiry. "Want a drink babe?" He asked.**

"**Yea sure. You know what I like. Nothing alcoholic though." She reminded him as he moved off with a nod and a smile.**

"**You're not drinking tonight Hanna?" Aria asked her own glass almost empty.**

"**I can't. I'm pregnant." She said on a quick breath.**

"**Awe. That's great. I'm so happy for you guys." Spencer said as she drew her own hands down and over her rounded belly. It was clear to see that she too was expecting.**

"**You too Spence." Hanna responded. "Boy or girl?" **

"**We don't know. We wanted to be surprised." Spencer said with a chuckle. "Though Toby and I have a bet going on about what the gender is. He says boy I say girl." Spencer said with a laugh and an eye roll.**

"**Aria, Emily do you guys have any kids yet?" Hanna asked curiously. **

"**Um Ezra and I have three kids actually. We have the twins Rina and Tommy who are five and then we have baby Myles who's eight months." She responded happily.**

"**Wow congrats to you guys." **

"**Paige and I are trying to get pregnant now." Emily said with a small smile as she grabbed Paige's hand and gave it a squeeze.**

"**Here baby I got you club soda and lime." Caleb said as he rejoined them and handed her the drink.**

"**Thanks." She said with a smile. Turning back to her friends she plucked up the courage to ask about Alison. "So where's Alison?"**

"**Not too sure. She went travelling after senior year and though she comes back every once in a while she doesn't stay in touch very well." Aria explained. "I believe she said no to coming tonight as well." She added.**

"**Oh that's too bad." Hanna said. "I would have like to have seen her again."**

"**Not sure that would have been a good idea." Spencer said with a shake of her head.**

"**She hates me for leaving doesn't she?" She asked.**

"**No. She doesn't hate you she just isn't the same Ali we all knew. She's darker more unstable it's why she travels around so much now. She just can't handle staying in any one place for too long." Spencer explained.**

"**That's too bad. Maybe someday things will change." Hanna responded.**

"**Yea maybe." Emily agreed a slight frown marring her features.**

**A silence descended on the group not an uncomfortable one but more of a who was going to speak next one. After a minute had passed Hanna decided to speak up.**

"**I'm sorry for running away" She blurted out. Everyone stared at her a bit stunned by the change of topic. "I didn't mean to leave the way I did but there was a point where I just broke for a moment and before I knew it my bags were packed and I was driving out of Rosewood. I just couldn't stay any longer." Hanna said trying to explain her actions that day.**

"**We don't hold it against you Hanna if that's what you've been thinking all these years, if that's why you never came back. We all just assumed that you needed to get away after everything that had happened those last few years. That it all became too much for you." Aria said gently.**

**Knowing they never hated her brought tears to Hanna's eyes. "It was. There were too many terrible memories tied to this town. Too many losses and bad experiences that broke me down one by one until I barely had anything left." She tried to explain. "Alison being killed and then finding out she was still alive the whole time, me being hit by a car, my best friend turning out to be in on everything and wanting me dead, Maya's death then Garrett's and Wilden's and then Caleb being shot and him eventually leaving." she paused and gave Caleb a watery smile reassuring him that she held nothing against him anymore. "My mom being arrested and Ezra being shot just added to it all and I just couldn't deal anymore." Hanna said as tears ran down her face.**

**Caleb rubbed her back soothingly trying to calm her by letting her know he was there for her. He knew she had to get this all out, it was time.**

"**We would have helped you through it Hanna you know that." Spencer said patting her on the shoulder.**

"**I know you would have tried but you couldn't fix me. There was only one person who could fix me and when I left I wasn't sure I was ready to ask him for help. I started breaking down when Caleb left and thinking about everything that had happened in those years after Alison disappeared added to it all. Pieces of me began to break away and if I had stayed here even one day longer I would have shattered. I almost did. My car ran out of gas a little over an hour away from Ravenswood and even though at the time I didn't know that I had been going there to look for him I knew at that moment he's the one I needed right then." Hanna said as Caleb pulled her into his side and kissed her forehead gently.**

"**What did you do?" Aria asked curiously.**

"**I called him in tears. Told him I needed help, where I was and that I didn't know what to do now." She smiled at Caleb and laughed lightly. "He was in the car within minutes and speeding his way to me. Took me somewhere safe to stay for the night to regroup and then took me to California to stay with his mom while I got myself help and restarted my life again. He didn't once leave my side even told my mom off when she tried to drag me home." She said with a laugh and a broad smile.**

"**Told you a long time ago Han I would protect you with everything and against anyone, including your pretty terrifying mother." Caleb said making everyone chuckle at the joke.**

"**So what have you been doing all these years?" Emily asked everyone nodding their heads to the question letting Hanna know that they were all curious as to the answer.**

"**Well after the argument with my mom I closed myself off in my room for a week. Caleb had to force me to eat and bathe I was a bit of a basket case. He talked to me a lot, sang to me, tried to keep me from completely falling apart, and after a week of me not saying anything besides 'yes', 'no', and 'I don't know' I finally spoke a sentence. I told him I needed help." Hanna said with a sad smile.**

"**I talked to my mom who had a friend who was a therapist, we got Hanna in to see him and then waited anxiously to see if it would help. At first it didn't seem as if it was helping but after a couple of weeks Hanna started smiling and talking, she was doing her make-up and dressing more like herself again. It was a long process and I'm grateful I had my mom to help because I was so scared that she would slip through my fingers again, that I wouldn't be strong enough to save her." Caleb said shaking his head slowly. Everyone just stood there shocked and silent not knowing what to say.**

"**I got help and I got better. I knew that I had to for myself as well as Caleb." Hanna added.**

"**My mom told me once that having Hanna around gave me the strength to help her and she was right. I knew that as long as Hanna was there with me I would fight to help her. It took a long time well over a year but eventually she was able to function again. She started online classes to finish high school, applied to colleges in the fashion industry and got in to more then one." Caleb said proudly.**

"**Wow. Congrats Hanna." Spencer spoke up smiling.**

"**It was great. I ended up choosing The California College of the Arts majoring in fashion design. It took four years to graduate but I did it and now I have my own little boutique in Montecito and I love it. It was tough though because I had to work hard to keep the scholarship I qualified for as well as working a part-time job."**

"**That's really great Hanna. You did it though, you got through it. What about you Caleb what did you do?" Aria questioned turning to Caleb.**

**I went to Berkeley for Computer Technologies of course." Caleb said with a wide grin and a laugh. "We got an apartment five minutes away from Hanna's campus and we lived there until we graduated and then we went back to Montecito and I began working for a computer company that had recruited me right out of school." Caleb explained then Hanna cut him off.**

"**And I worked with his mom and opened a boutique using connections I had made in school. I sell my own custom fashion as well as special fashions from local designers. Right now we're working on expanding."**

"**That's really great you guys. Sounds like leaving here was good for both of you. So how long did it take you guys to get back together?" Spencer asked nosey as always.**

"**Funny story really. There was no official we're back together declaration. We didn't need the words we were just together. We never questioned it and neither did his mom or his step-dad, though his brothers did tease him a few times." Hanna said with a laugh.**

"**Oh. So you just got back together without saying you were back together?" Paige asked a bit confused.**

"**To be honest I never truly thought we were over. I always thought he'd come back to me eventually." Hanna said.**

"**Always." Caleb whispered in her ear loud enough for everyone to hear.**

"**So Caleb how did you propose?" Aria asked curiously.**

"**Well we were in our second year of college and we were sitting at the kitchen table studying. I was working on breaking into a computer hard drive remotely and Hanna was working on her concept for her fashion line as part of her work study program. As I was sitting there listening to her pencils on the sketch pad and watching her chew on her bottom lip in concentration I just blurted it out." Caleb said flashing back to the night he asked Hanna to marry him.**

**The Proposal Flashback…**

"**I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with you, you know." Caleb said causing Hanna to look up quickly.**

"**Me too." She answered with a smile.**

"**I mean it Hanna. I want you forever. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and when that life is over I want to come back and do it all again with you." He said getting up and moving around the table, turning her to the side so he was kneeling between her legs.**

"**Caleb…" Hanna whispered tears filling her eyes.**

"**I wanna marry you Hanna." Caleb said suddenly grabbing her hands and kissing her knuckles.**

"**What?" Hanna gasped surprise etched across her face.**

"**I, Caleb Rivers, am asking you, Hanna Marin, to marry me." He told her his words making no mistake as to their meaning.**

"**Oh Caleb." Hanna said shock still clearly written across her face.**

"**What do you say princess, will you marry me?" He asked.**

"**Yes. Yes I'll marry you." Hanna said with a laugh throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately on the mouth. Once her answer registered with Caleb he began kissing her back as he picked her up from her chair and began twirling in a circle their laughter mingling with the kisses as they both celebrated their newly engaged status.**

"**I'm gonna love you forever Hanna I promise." Caleb told her as they stopped and just stood there starring at each other.**

"**And I'm gonna love you just as much Caleb Rivers." Hanna said fiercely as she pulled his lips back to hers and initiating another fiery kiss.**

**End of Flashback…**

"**Wow. Who knew you had that kind of romance in you Rivers." Aria said sarcastically slapping him on the back.**

"**No one knew but Hanna. It was something I only ever showed her. She was the only one who ever deserved to receive it." He said smiling at his wife briefly before turning back to the four girls. "You'll have to excuse us for a while though I really want to dance with my wife now." He said as he took Hanna's hand and lead her onto the dance floor. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**For Hanna the rest of the reunion went very well. There was lots of dancing, laughter and conversation as they all caught up on each others lives. Coming home, Hanna reflected as she and Caleb lay together in bed that night, it began to feel like the right thing to do. The stressing she had done, the fear she had been feeling was all because she was afraid of what her friends had thought of her for running away.**

**She had held on to the fear that they hated her for leaving for so long that she made herself believe they would still hate her. She spent so much time dwelling on the fact that she abandoned them and that they would resent her for that, that they would think she was a coward. **

**The surprise she feels now knowing that they don't fell any of those things, that they still love her even after all this time made coming home very healing for Hanna.**

**Caleb had been her pillar of strength through all of this and looking back on the last ten years, from the second he picked up his phone to this very moment, Hanna began to understand just how truly blessed she really was. He stuck by her through everything, was always there when she needed him and refused to let go when she tried to push him away, maybe if she had done that for him when he left to deal with things in Ravenswood things would have been different, but the choices they made then lead her to where she is now and if she could go back she would probably do it all over again knowing this was the outcome.**

**Placing her hand over Caleb's where it rested over her still flat stomach where their child lay growing she allowed herself to let go of her past. It might have been emotionally damaging living in this town with all that had happened forcing her to run away but having Caleb with her for all these years gave her the strength to come back and face it all and for Hanna that turned out to be the second best decision of her life. The first being that long ago phone call the had Caleb rushing to her side.**

**Now she laid there knowing that in front of her she had a future full of love, peace and happiness. A moment of weakness for Hanna became one step in the journey to her future with Caleb. At that moment Hanna stopped running from the memories, the guilt and the pain, she let it all go and turned to whisper to Caleb. "I finally feel free."**

"**I told you, you would." he whispered back a smile in his voice.**

"**I love you Caleb Rivers." She said as she began to drift off to sleep.**

"**I love you too Hanna Marin Rivers." He whispered back as he pulled her closer, noting the small smile on her face before drifting off to sleep as well.**

**THE END**

**Author's Note: Thanks to all the reviews and interest in this story I've decided to write a spin off. It'll also be about Hanna and Caleb but it will start from the time they leave for California to the time they begin driving to Rosewood for the reunion. I want to detail how the rift formed between Hanna and her mom as well as a lot of other things I'm sure you all have questions about. Like how exactly did Hanna and Caleb get back together. There may even be a few steamy scenes between them. I left a lot of details missing for a reason I was hoping if there was enough interest in this story that I would get to write this new one and fill in a lot of blanks. Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone and I'll have chapter 1 of the spin off story Running Away up within a couple of days.**

**Keep Reading**

**Xoxo C**


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